It’s not how big you are, it’s how big you play.

Sports facility financing is one of the most challenging aspects of the start-up process. If you are not self financing your sports facility you have to look elsewhere to get the money. But, how do you go about finding the right people and convincing them that you are the right person and this is the best place to put their money? You generally have three options in finding your money.

The first is the most traditional, and that is through the commercial banking system. This approach will require a high level of documentation and planning. You can expect to be required to disclose an in depth history of your financial history and past business experiences. Banks have protocols and regulations to follow, and remember the person you are dealing with is probably a disinterested third party. They will also probably require a substantial guarantee to back up any money they give. Banks tend to be a better option once you have opened your doors and have some history behind you, but convincing them up front before the foundation is poured can be a daunting task.

Finding a private investor is your second option. Finding someone who has a passion for what your are trying to accomplish is the key. Someone who can see what your vision is and has the money to do it is who you are looking for. The planning and numbers will still have to make sense but when you have someone on your side and emotionally invested in what you are doing, they are more likely to overlook some minor details that banks would never let go. This is not to say you are hiding information or blowing smoke, but that you have someone who believes in what you are doing and has a strong interest in seeing it succeed. Banks do not have the luxury of such an approach.

There is no getting around this part though, choosing to go the private financing rout requires a lot of door knocking and rejection. Concentrate on people who have strong connections to whatever sports you are offering. Current or former professional players, current or former professional coaches, or parents with kids who participate and have the means. These are all excellent candidates. You may even need to recruit two or three people to raise what you need to get going.

The third way to go is through a real estate partnership with a building owner or developer. Your biggest financial hurdle is securing a facility. I have been involved with businesses where an owner made a deal with a developer to finance and build the building to suit and the owner only needed to come up with the capital to buy the equipment and and fund the operations. That’s a big help in getting a facility open, although you do not retain control over the facility.

The sports section is very popular among young adult males and it’s these very same young adult males who need to get a handle on their finances.

I’m amazed at how many statistics some people can quote about a team, the individual players, their seasons, their chances, the odds of winning a game, and even who the players are dating.

If you are going to spend a specific amount of time each day, reading the sports pages you had better be getting something out of it.

Sport is a great form of exercise and it’s invigorating. Watching a team that you align with win the big game is spirit lifting, but does it fatten your wallet?

If you like the sports page, you should discover the business section of the paper.

Why?

The sports section and the business section are the same, only different.

In Bangkok, where I live, there are t-shirts that read; “Same Same, but Different.”

Spotting one of those shirts over the weekend gave me the idea for this article and put my brain in motion. Since I’ve spent a large portion of my life in the financial world, I knew I could draw some comparisons between the sports section and the business section of a newspaper.

I’ll be upfront with you; I have never been a sports section junkie. My father read it religiously everyday of his life.

I had an interest in sports and played baseball in the summers and basketball in the school years, with some hockey, tennis, and football thrown in, but never cared about who hit the most home runs or how many year contract a player was signing.

If you’re not making the amount of money that you would like to be making, I suggest shifting from the sports section to the business section.

If you think the business section is too technical or too difficult to understand, think about how long it took you to figure out a players E.R.A., handicap, or referee’s signals.

If you have the brains to understand the rules of the sports, the scoring, player positions, and competitive advantages, you have what it takes to rip through the business section and find an idea, strategy, or opportunity to make money.

Attention getting photos are common in both sections, along with headlines that make you take a second look.

Opinions are a dime a dozen and there’s a sprinkling in both sports and business, everyone wants to know what will happen next. Predictions, odds, forecasts, and analysis go into both the world of sports and the world of business.

There are always standouts. Tiger Woods will get coverage because he’s the best at golf and Warren Buffet will get lots of print because he’ (at the time of this writing) the richest man in the world. He changes places with Bill Gates and Carlos Slim occasionally.

The big game is lost because a key player makes mistake and a company goes down the drain, because a key member makes the wrong commitment or passes on the opportunity of a lifetime.

Of course, there are disputes with officials, lawsuits, and lots of stress to perform. Members of both the sports section and the business section occasionally weed out the week players and those that have skirted the law for any number of reasons. Some players from both “leagues” do jail time and some do hard time.

The standings are important, because there’s something special about being number one. Being acknowledged as the best in your field is highly rewarded. The Detroit Pistons are usually in contention for the top spot and Toyota is in a tussle with General Motors for the top rung.

Celebrity is all part of both “games.” Knowing who Tom Brady is dating is right up there with wanting to know who the “Oracle of Omaha” wants to do a deal with.

Like a Hollywood hot sheet, scandal, tragedy, and criminal charges are front page items in both sections.

International competition makes the camaraderie even more intense. As the World Cup gathers momentum and fans; China strives to be a dominant global manufacturer.

The standings show how a team is doing for the season, but on Wall Street, they have their own seasons, either calendar or fiscal year and just like football, the game is divided into quarters for a better indication of what has to be adjusted in order to come out on top.

Rumors abound in both “worlds.” Is one of the main ingredients of a team or company jumping ship to a competitor?

Information leaks out from the base camps and the frenzy begins and the predictions, forecasts, and commentary are given fresh fuel to fill another column on another day.

Power struggles are always worth reading about and discussions about who has the most experience and stamina to do the job, but in both sections there are stories of upsets.

Day after day we are subject to facts, figures, and forecasts that we really don’t care about. Useless information is plentiful. Staggering statistics and numbers that very few readers understand are given ink in both “worlds.”
Both are guilty of giving time and attention to items that no one really cares about, but they do it all the time.

It’s the scenarios, the “what if” factor that I like. Everybody thinks they know what’s going to happen next and will lay their money down to prove it. When the gurus are wrong, they’re quick to come up with some double-talk excuse as to why it didn’t follow the predicted logic.

“What if” they trade their quarterback? “What if” they can’t get their raw materials cost down?

Sports betting is popular and buying stock on news of a breakthrough is sort of a bet, but I’ll bet that you never really stopped to think that the sports section of the newspaper and the business section of the newspaper are more similar than they are different.

If you’re investing some of your time everyday to reading the sports section of the newspaper, shift to the business section with the same passion and you’ll discover all the things that keep you tuned into sports will keep you tuned into business.

The sports page will give you things to think about, talk about, and follow, while the business section will give you things to learn about, think about, investigate, follow, and fatten your wallet with. “Same Same, but Different.”

Rugby followers could be more astute at handling their finances than their football-supporting peers, new research reveals.

With the England rugby team beginning their defence of the world cup in France and the national football squad preparing for a Euro 2008 qualifier with Israel this weekend, a study carried out by Callcredit suggests that the former may be better at managing their money. Suggesting that stereotypes might be true, the credit reference agency pointed out that the typecast of the middle-class rugby fan is able to fund going to matches more adequately than working-class football followers. In turn, it was reported that those watching rugby are less likely to run up debts on loans and credit cards to support their team.

Commenting on the study, Owen Roberts, head of MyCallcredit, said: “From our research we’ve seen that 77 per cent of rugby fans are homeowners, whereas only 20 per cent of the football fans have managed to get their foot on the property ladder. We also found that rugby fans are less likely to get into debt funding their habit than footie fans.”

“Getting behind the national team, be it rugby or football, is an exciting experience for many of us. But with few of us on similar salaries to our sporting heroes, we all need to consider the financial implications of our sporting passions,” Mr Roberts added.

Pointing to a Mintel survey, the credit reference company reported that football supporters “are in danger of seriously damaging their finances in pursuit of the beautiful game”. According to the figures, some fans can spend thousands of pounds just to follow their team, which in turn could well affect their ability to service other areas of their finances such as overdrafts, mortgages and loans.

Meanwhile, Callcredit also pointed to Tom Cherrill, a 25-year-old from South London, as an example of the financial pressures football fanatics may be placing on themselves. He said: “I guess I’ve spent thousands of pounds supporting Newcastle United over the years and try to get to as many games as possible. I’ve never had to add it all up before though, but with the train fares, hotels and nights out taken into account, it’s shocking that it makes up such a massive chunk of my outgoings.”

Whatever sport they follow, those concerned about the level of debts run up by supporting their team, in addition to other constraints on their monthly outgoings such as home loans and credit cards, may wish to take out a debt consolidation loan. Earlier this year, David Kuo, head of personal finance for the Motley Fool, claimed that opting for such a low-rate loan can act as a “welcome lifeline” for those consumers who find themselves in serious financial difficulties. However, with research from the financial services provider showing that about three out of five debt consolidation consumers borrow more money in the future, Mr Kuo urged Britons to plan their finances properly and avoid the temptation of getting into the red again.

Have you ever wondered how to bet on motor sports? Well, there are a few important things to keep in mind when betting on this motor sport, especially online. Whether you are a veteran, a beginner or just a motor sport betting enthusiast, you must know the basics of the motor sport itself before engaging on online betting on such sport. First, you must know the motor sport that you wish to bet on whether it is the NASCAR or the F1. Choose which out of these two motor sports that suit your individual tastes and preferences. Make it a point to know about the basic as well as the advanced rules in of the sport. In fact, it is a plus if you are practicing the sport itself as it will be easier to place your bet if you have actually racing experience.

Second, keep in mind that you are betting for fun and not because of addiction. Online motor sport betting is fun and enjoyable only if you have the necessary finances to utilize on it. If you do not have enough money, then do not force yourself to place a bet. If you have money but it is not enough, then try to bet on lower priced bets first and then try to make your money grow. If you are having serious problem about your finances and still you bet your remaining money, then you may have a serious addiction to online motor sports betting and as such you need to consult psychologists in order to get help.

Third, you must know every top racer, the famous racers and the not so famous ones with regard to the motor sport you are betting on. Gather enough information through the radio, the internet and the television. Remember to do your homework and research on each of them in order to get a complete overview of which of the racers have higher talent and capability that the others. All of these data and information are necessary in order to predict a more successful winner. Do not solely depend on luck as it will result in losing you losing money, and in big or huge amounts. Predictions, although not 100 percent accurate, can serve as basis in order for you to make the right bet to the racer that has a higher probability of winning a race.

There are two ways of making predictions in this kind of online motor sport betting. First is the historical record prediction. All you have to do is get the past records of the racers participating in the grand prix. Then you can compare their individual results in order to see the racer that has a higher chance of winning the race against the others. This is vital information that can make you win loads of cash. The second way is to fairly elaborate each racer that is taking part in the grand prix. Analyze the statistics including test races, lap times and sector times of each racer. Motor sport betting fanatics would even go as far as post race interviews in order to gather enough data and information about the racer. Once you have all of this detailed information, you are now better equipped in making a prediction with the high probability of you winning in the process.